Coco Cagle

About the practice

I've spent most of my life around sails. I studied mechanical engineering, ran Laser sailboat charters around the world (that's where #CocoOnTheGoGo came from), and have spent years in the marine industry. Along the way I kept seeing good sails get retired. A sail can be too stretched out to race and still be some of the toughest fabric you'll ever handle. That's what I work with. Most of my cloth comes from friends, sailors, clubs, and riggers around Galveston Bay. Dacron cruising sails are my workhorse. They sew cleanly and hold up to years of hauling groceries and gear. Laminates, the crinkly racing sails, keep a crisp shape but don't forgive a misplaced needle hole, so they go into structured pieces like box pouches. Spinnaker nylon is light and bright and usually ends up as accents. When I can, I keep the original details: sail numbers, corner rings, the stitching a sailmaker put there years ago. Everything is cut in my living room or 10x10 studio and sewn by me on a Sailrite LSZ-1. I design around what each sail gives me, so the lineup (totes, pouches, wristlets, wine bags, candle sleeves) shifts with what comes in and what I’m feeling. I also make custom pieces from a customer's own sail, which means turning a boat someone loved into something they carry every day. Keeping sails out of the landfill is a real part of this, but it isn't the pitch. The fabric is good, it has a history, and it deserves a second job.